Impact of dorsolateral periaqueductal gray lesions on shock-induced hyperalgesia

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Date

1998

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Abstract

Prior exposure to shock lowers vocalization thresholds to heat and facilitates the acquisition of conditioned fear when training is conducted in a different context. These observations have been taken as evidence that shock exposure increases the affective impact of subsequent aversive stimuli, a phenomenon known as hyperalgesia. The present study explores whether this hyperalgesia depends on neurons within the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (dlPAG). Experiment 1 showed that lesioning either the rostral or caudal dlPAG prevented the shock-induced reduction in vocalization thresholds. Experiment 2 showed that lesioned subjects also failed to exhibit facilitated learning after shock exposure. Taken together, these results suggest that the dlPAG plays a critical role in the production of shock-induced hyperalgesia.

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Includes bibliographical references: leaves 23-26.
Program year: 1997/1998

Keywords

shock exposure, aversive stimuli, hyperalgesia, dorsolateral periaqueductal gray, lesions

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